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Neal Dunn, Ted Yoho Champion '10th Amendment Restoration Act'

Freshman U.S. Rep. Neal Dunn, R-Fla., is pushing for the states to regain more power from the federal government with the “10th Amendment Restoration Act” and has the support of a fellow North Florida Republican.

Dunn introduced his bill at the end of last month and it was sent to the House Oversight and Government Reform and the House Rules Committees. Towards the end of the last week, Dunn showcased his legislation which creates a Constitutional Government Review Commission “to review federal laws, agencies and programs to determine what functions should be returned to the states, per the 10th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.”

As he highlighted his proposal last week, Dunn noted the Tenth Amendment holds “the powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people” and quoted the Founding Fathers as he made his case.

“The Constitution guarantees our liberty, and its defense requires constant vigilance,” Dunn said. “In Federalist 45, Madison wrote that the federal government’s powers are ‘few and defined’ but the states’ are ‘numerous and indefinite.’ That principle was enshrined in the 10th Amendment. Yet over the generations, Congresses and administrations have crossed that line so often that it has almost worn away. I came to Congress to make that line bright again.”

Dunn reeled in the support of U.S. Rep. Ted Yoho, R-Fla., who is the only co-sponsor of the bill so far.

“I am proud to support Dr. Dunn’s 10th Amendment Restoration Act,” Yoho said. “For far too long our federal Government has been allowed to grow bigger that what our Founding Fathers intended. This bill will enable us to trim down the size of the federal government and place that power in the hands of the individual states where it belongs.”

Under Dunn’s legislation, the Constitutional Government Review Commission would offer proposals for the states to retake power from the federal government which would be sent to Congress. The legislation would also make the commission offer recommendations on how to cut the federal government. Under Dunn’s proposal, the president would name nine members of the commission for five year terms which would require Senate confirmation.

“Restoring power to the states and shrinking the size and scope of the federal government is key to remaining true to the vision laid out by our founders,” Dunn said, insisting his proposal would lead to shrinking the power of the federal government.

“Big government doesn’t work,” Dunn added. “From government run health care to overreach in our local schools – hardworking Americans are struggling to keep up. It’s time to give power back to the states and this legislation does just that.”